@ My mom had an outpatient procedure on Friday - they injected something into her back to calm a swollen nerve -- seems to be helping so far, but she may need the injection a couple more times

@ I spent all day Saturday at a library science seminar, and then met with classmates. It was really funny - one lady I had a lot in common with - we were chatting away and I mentioned about my barefoot running - she reacted like she'd met a celebrity! Lol! I'd mentioned it in my intro and she'd remembered it ever since - said her husband would be jazzed. Too bad she lives in Houston , I think we'd have fun together.

@ my dad sent me a check for the monthly iPhone charges + a little extra -for clothes! I thought that was really sweet and hood timing since I had just bought some new pants!

@ Saturday morning I did my official monthly no- s weigh in. Since July 23 when I started ( including two weeks where I wasn't doing great) I have lost 8 pounds!!

@ I don't get what's going on with E ( gym manager). When I went to the south gym on wednesday there were no clean, dry towels. There was a load washed - luckily I arrived 40 minutes earlier than I was supposed to ( wasn't sure about traffic) and barely managed to have a dry towel ready for the first gym visitor. I off handily said something about it to E, and he was like "I don't know why you guys complain about doing the laundry" I wasn't complaining about doing the laundry - I was annoyed that HE hadn't done any the day(s) before, which left me with no clean towels to start the day. According to the person who normally is there on Wed's this is a normal occurrence.

Then on Friday I went to the south gym again after E had supposedly opened it - I found out when I was closing for the day that he hadn't turned on any of the machines!!! Seriously , how does he wonder why people aren't renewing?? Not to mention all 3 locations constantly running out of one supply or another. (like the ladies bathroom on wed having no papertowels!)

I think he's as bored as I am with doing this but he is rebelling against his parents (owners of gym) by doing the bare minimum - and even less!

I worked an extra shift at the gym today. So, that will be a nice little boost on the 15th.

But ... the real reason for this post.

When I got home from work, I had a letter from my old apartment complex. It was kind of thick, so I was wondering what in the world it could be. Were they charging me for things in the apartment??

Well, I opened it up and was shocked to see a check for $314!!!

When I moved in, I paid a $300 pet deposit and a $99 Security Deposit. I am pretty sure that half of the pet deposit was non-refundable.

When I moved out, I didn't put too much effort into cleaning ... so basically wasn't expecting much, if anything back.

They charged me $85 for cleaning, etc, and gave me the remainder!! I'm sure not going to argue with them about it.

That money will come in handy next week when I get my brakes worked on.

Note: I'm writing this while at the gym and on my iPhone, so please forgive any typos.

On Wednesday when I got a new tire for my car and bought a bike, I also was given a strong suggestion.

Get new brakes --- Soon!

The mechanic told me I have about 20% left.

Oooops!

I'd known that it had to be coming soon. After all, it has been at least six years since I last had my brakes done. But I'd been hoping to hold out till November so I'd have a couple months of lower expenses before messing with them.

I considered going back to the mechanic I used during my Murphy month. But then I realized that he'd told me my tires were fine and made no mention of my brakes. ( this was after me specifically asking him to tell me if he noticed anything else) Not to mention that he's way out of my way now.

This doesn't seem like something I can put off for very long. I hate to put more money in the car if I'm just going to be trading it in soon. But I was really hoping to wait for a car sales crunch time - esp end of qtr and end of month when they're desperate to make a sale.

The last time I got brakes, I think it was around 100. But I don't think they were as far gone. I'm worried it's going to be a $$$$ job.

I probably just need to take it to a mechanic ( maybe my stepdad can suggest one - he used to live in my new area) and get an estimate.

--------------
I ordered a cashback reward from Chase before moving for $100. It came on Tuesday, so last night I deposited it and my paycheck. Guess all my car troubles and tuition bills are good for something.

It will add up much more slowly now because I can't put my rent on it anymore. Cheaper rent is worth it.

------
I checked into a local bike club. There is only one ride for novice bikers, and it is on Saturday mornings when I'm in church. So that won't work.

I found a book on bike care at my library which I put a hold on. It's written for kids, but I bet the info will still be useful. There was one book for adults, but there were no copies. ( I've asked why they have books in their catalog if they don't actually have any copies. I was told that it means they did have a copy at one time, but it was lost or irreparrably damaged.)

Lux, I checked out the bike tutor site. Lots of good info. The main thing I was looking for though was how to know if your chain is on correctly. My chain had come off the gears when I took it home. I put it on the lowest gear and was able to ride it, but there is a clicking type noise once every revolution.

---
I'm really looking forward to this weekend. Nowhere to go, just relax and see if I can work ahead in some of my classes.

There's another reason I love weekends, but I'll have to save it for another post.

Yesterday I took the bike I'd gotten for free off of freecycle about six-years ago to a bike shop to get tuned up. For the past 3 1/2 years it had been locked up on the balcony outside my apartment, and exposed to all the elements. The bike guy took a look at it, and told me that it needed a lot more than just a tune up, and that he'd suggest starting over with a different bike. (rusted chain, rotted/dried out tires/tubes, etc.)

So, this morning while I was at Wal-mart getting a new tire on my car, I checked out the bikes. I ended up getting an 18-speed trail bike for about the same cost as revamping my old bike (10 speed cruiser.) (I also purchased a helmet and a little carry all bag that attaches to the handlebars.)

I took it out for a short spin this morning, and started to get my bike balance back, but not quite all the way yet.

I will definitely need to get a better bike seat soon, if I want to do anything more than a short bike ride.

*I am planning on looking for a place/someone to teach me basic bike care and maintenance. Now that I have a new/nice bike, I'd like to know how to keep it nice for as long as possible.

----

This move is benefiting me financially, emotionally (related to not having to worry so much about stretching min wage dollars + going to school), and also physically since I have two good excuses to be active every single day.

At my new home I have been taking the landlady's two dogs out for a walk everyday. One of the dogs is quite overweight, and only goes for a short bit. The other one though, I can't seem to tire her out!

So, once I get a bit more steady/confident on my bike, I'll take her out on a short bike ride and see if I can manage to finally tire her out.

In fact, the dogs have come to expect it. Tonight I got caught up watching a television program on TLC that my landlady was watching. Both of the dogs kept paying attention to me - wagging tails, etc. Finally, when the program was over, I stood there talking with* (not really with, more like nodding head and being polite) the landlady.

The larger dog kept staring up at me with her big Beagle eyes, and the hyper one started jumping up on me while wagging her tail. Finally, I managed to get away to the restroom. When I came out, both dogs were laying in front of the door waiting for me. LOL!

--
*In case I don't have a chance to read and comment on others blogs until this weekend - I'm working two long days in a row, so may not be able to catch up on blog reading till Saturday afternoon.

During the time I was doing my packing on Friday, I made sure to put a change of work clothes and a pair of workout clothes in my gym bag. That way I would be ready and raring to go Monday morning no matter how much had or hadn't been unpacked.

Unfortunately, that bag has not shown up anywhere yet. It may be in the garage - but I just haven't come across it.

In it, is the only pair of non-jeans pants that fit me right now. It is getting cooler here in Texas, and so I am probably going to be wanting long pants sooner rather than later.

Also, the pair of jean capris that I wear to work a lot are starting to wear out. I've had them 3 or 4 years I think.

So, probably this weekend, I ought to look for a new pair of pants - but I don't think I'll replace the capris just yet.

I hate shopping for pants. It is SO hard to find ones that fit me. I might just start off at Lane Bryant (where my lost pair came from) and hope they have some great sale going on right now. Ugh!

Of course, as soon as I buy the new pair, the bag is going to show up. That's how it works. :roll eyes:

The person who was supposed to come pick up my bed this morning never showed - and never responded to my email asking exactly when they'd be here.

So, at 2 pm today I posted an ad on Craigslist stating I had a free King size bed, etc. The first person to respond to my ad who told me their name, a phone number AND an exact time they could come pick it up - would get the bed. Any responses without all that info would be deleted.

I ended up getting about 20 responses. Of them, I deleted 10 due to not including all the information. The first person who responded actually hadn't included all the info in their first email, then I guess they must have reread the ad.

They just now left with it.

My place is really, really empty now.

I have my couch/futon, my stereo, my elliptical, my freezer, my computer desk/computer, a stand up pantry, two dressers, two nightstands, 4 bookshelves, treadle sewing machine and of course my clothes and kitchen stuff. I could easily fit in a 500 sq ft or smaller apartment now.

Wow, when I list it that way, it still sounds like a lot of stuff doesn't?

So now I guess I can really start packing my stuff up in earnest. Although, I think I may try to pare down my kitchen stuff a good bit (maybe give a couple boxes of it to Family Place). Any kitchen stuff I keep will be in boxes for the next two years or so - so I need to decide how much is really worth keeping for two years in boxes.

One week from today I will be living with two cats and two dogs. YAY! No vet bills or food bills for them - just all the loving and scritches they'll put up with from me.

I'll also have cable - I wonder if I'm going to get rehooked on Army Wives. (****whistling***) That reminds me, I need to call and cancel my dsl service.

*So far, so good with the car. My iPhone came in real handy on the way home Friday. I had to get off the highway to get gas, and ended up missing my connection. So, instead of turning around and hoping I'd get back going the right way, I used the Maps function. It gave me a new route from my then current location. It took me through some areas I normally would have tried to avoid, but it was mid-afternoon, so not too bad.

Well ... Friday afternoon I got a ride home from work. Called the tow truck people at 2:40 p.m. Tow truck finally showed up about 4:45 pm. Mechanic shop was closing at 6 - I was starting to panic.

Even with a few traffic snarls, we made it to the mechanics by 5:30. Mom and stepdad picked me up from the mechanics.

Saturday I called at noon to find out what was happening. Was told they'd call me when they knew more - but that it def. wasn't the starter or alternator.

I knew they were closing at 3 - so I called them again at 2:50. Was told to go ahead and come to get the car - it should be ready to go in 30 minutes. They said there'd been an electrical short in the front and back, and my 3 week old battery was burnt out. So, I'd have to take my car to Firestone to get a replacement battery.

Mom and I got there about 3:30. They pulled my car up to the garage with a car starter thingy hanging off the battery. After taking it off, they shut the hood and told me it was fine to go to Firestone. (Paid $85.)

Got in and gave it a little gas. Weird clicking noise. Gave it a little more gas. POP! BANG! Smoke starts pouring out my middle console.

I immediately turn around and take it back to the garage - they've already closed up tight. So I beep my horn and they come out.

My car gets put back in the garage and I'm told they'll look at it on Tuesday.

---
Nearly 4 days spent at my mom's reminded me why it would NOT work for us to ever share space for more than a few short days.

--
So, tomorrow E is picking me up in the am so I can be at work. Then depending on the car verdict, my stepdad or my mom will pick me up and take me home, or take me to the car mechanic to pick up my car.

Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. This was NOT how I wanted to spend my long weekend.

---
Oh, both my mom and stepdad hated Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. They just didn't get the humor - thought it was the stupidest movie they'd ever seen. Oh well. To each their own, right?

We did see The Librarian: Quest for the Spear of Destiny with Noah Wyle (sp?) of ER fame. It was really good/funny. Sort of similar to Indiana Jones, but a lot less intense.

So, this morning I go out to my car to head to work. The car doesn't start.

I'm waiting on a cab right now. $32 one way + tip.

When is this going to end???

I hate to say it, but taking my dad and grandma up on their offer is sounding more and more appealing - though I don't know that I could even qualify for a car loan right now.

Ugh and double ugh!!!!

I thought about it and thought about it. I took everyone's thoughts and opinions into consideration. Then, I made the decision.

I upgraded to an iPhone.

It made me almost faint seeing the total bill for the phone + a protective case I got for it (will be reimbursed by dad and grandma - put it on my cc so I get reward points.)

I am in lurve.

The GPS function I haven't really used very much yet - and so far I'm holding off on doing the $10 extra feature GPS. (You have GPS functioning w/turn by turn directions for free - the fee is for spoken out loud directions.)

The internet though, and a bunch of apps, I am making a lot of use of.

One of the first apps I bought ($2) was iTreadmill. Basically it is a pedometer. You stick the iPhone in your pocket as you walk or run. The app counts your steps and measures your distance/time/speed/calories burnt. When you're finished, you can then save the results into a history log. Then you can see your progress (or lack thereof.)

Next I got the free Pandora app. I love Pandora.com and have really missed it working at the gym w/no internet access. For those of you who don't know what Pandora is, it is a website where you can pretty much create your own music stations, based on names of songs you input and then the website finding similar songs and your giving thumbs up or thumbs down.

Tonight as I was driving home I was getting annoyed by the endless chatter on every radio station I listen to - so, I pushed on my Pandora app, and listened to music all the way home.

I have some other free apps too that I really like - one for Facebook, another one called Yelp! which helps you find stores, etc that are close to you, etc.

It took me some trial and error, but I have figured out how to get into and use the Blackboard site where all of my classes are located. I am able to open and read the discussion boards, open and read the powerpoint lectures, as well as other needed functions.

That is probably the most valuable aspect.

Right now I'm still in the infatuated phase and am probably spending way too much time on it (using up a full charge 2 x in a day --- )

Today I spent way too much time watching youtube videos. Got my fill of cute kitties.

I have experienced a few annoyances with it though - such as I bought one song from the itunes store (Colbie Calliat - Bubbly) and then when I synced it with my computer today, the song was taken off my iPhone and put on my computer only. The other thing I haven't been able to get to work yet is the voice activated calling system.

If I get off at 3 tomorrow, I'm going to stop by the store and see if someone can help me figure out what's going on.

What can I say? I'm hook, line and sinker - hooked!

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The Dallas libraries are closing on Friday for a furlough day. (There's a second one later, can't remember when.)

While that makes me sad that the libraries are having to do this, I am also a bit confused as to their reasoning.

What do I mean? Well the branch that I go to most often is always closed on Thursdays. All the other branches, except for the Central location, have always had at least one day where they are closed each week on a rotating basis.

So guess what they're doing? All the branches except for two, are going to be open on Thursday. That just means that my branch will be closed this week on Friday instead of Thursday. Huh? It doesn't make a lot of sense to me - but, I guess that is government for you, right?

--
I stopped at the library today and picked up a copy of Hitchhiker's Guide. My mom has never seen it, so this weekend she's in for a treat.

Soon she'll know why I grin like mad when I say: "So long and thanks for all the fish." And won't look at me like I'm losing it when I tell her, "Today is towel day! Where's your towel?"


42 everybody!

My brother recently purchased an Iphone. Last week he spent some time at our Aunts house in San Jose, while our grandma also happened to be there. He espoused the wonders of it (iphone) to our aunt and grandma, and even got our uncle majorly intrigued.

Our Aunt was considering switching everybody from Sprint to AT&T and getting iphones (1 for her and uncle, and 1 for my dad and grandma.) In the end she decided not to because the company she works for gives an 18% discount for using Sprint.

But ... my grandma really thought the iphone was really neat. Especially the gps function and the internet browser function.

She knows how I am majorly directionally challenged, as well as how I am without internet at work.

So ... she and my dad have made me the following offer:

1. They'd buy me an iphone
2. They'd pay for any charges over the $50/month ($39.99 + taxes/fees) I currently pay for my plan.

At first I told them I really appreciated the offer, but I'm really okay with my cheapy phone that just makes and takes calls. They kept pushing for me to think it about it more.

I *am* really, really interested in the GPS turn by turn directions capability, because I do have a great tendency to get royally lost quite easily.

Also, the internet capability at work - even if it was just enough to be able to find the articles I have to read for my classes, would be a huge time saver.

Looking at At&T's site, it looks like these are the basic costs (above the voice plan):
$30/mo - data plan
$10/mo - GPS service
$5/mo - 200 text/picture messages

With a bit of trepidation, I mentioned this to my mom. She thinks I should take advantage of their offer.

Oh, I don't think I've mentioned this before, but they also have offered to pay up to $300/mo towards a new to me car payment. (Which so far I have politely declined.)

I guess I'm feeling really torn about this - making roughly $850/month, and then going around carrying a phone that costs %12+ of monthly gross income?

Am I looking a gift horse in the mouth? Being ungrateful?

It would be really hard to give up the iphone once I got used to it -- I know how much I love technology and gadgets. And I do think it would be a really beneficial tool for me. I just have a hard time wrapping my mind around a $200+ phone with a $100/mo price tag.

If you were single, looking at two years of school, probably continuing to make under $900/mo for those two years, and had an offer like this, what would you do? Oh yeah, also think of this as though you are someone who has gotten majorly lost, more than once, coming home from the mom's house - a route you've done a million times.

ETA - Oh yeah. I'm also really interested in some of the apps you can use with it -- like the Kindle app -- and it looks like there is an app that you can use to track your distance walked/ran ...

This morning around 10:30 I got a call from Sam (car mechanic) that my car would be ready by 3 p.m. He told me it needed an oil change (yep, knew that) an air filter (yep!) and a transmission tune up (yep, not surprised at all.) I gave him the go ahead to do all that.

Total cost when I picked it up today was $750. That includes the EMC, a fuse box, oil change, air filter, tune up, labor and something else I'm forgetting.

All of that would have run a LOT more at Firestone!

Before heading over to pick up my Honda, I went to drop off the rental car (sweet car - Mazda 3 -- loved it except it had a weird blind spot.) That was a bit of a frustrating experience because I was dropping it off at the airport. On the way there I wanted to stop and get gas, but didn't want to get it *too* soon. Unfortunately after passing up a couple stations near the beginning of my trip, there were not any more easily visible before entering the airport.

So, as I was driving to the rental car place, I saw a sign - Gas on the right. So, I went to the right .... and ended up exiting the airport! But ... as I was getting turned around, I found a gas station. Whew.

Then I turned in the car. And looked at the price tag. :big eyes:

$345.xx!!!

Whoa! I thought it would be a lot less because I was turning it in several days early. But apparently there is something called a "minimum charge." No matter if you have it out one day or five days, you will be charged at least $249.xx plus a bunch of taxes and fees represented by acronyms which are not explained.

I'm not sure if this is just for airport rental cars, or rental cars across the board. But one way or the other -- it stinks!

--
So total cost for my car adventures of the past few days:

1. New battery + diagnostics at Firestone: $155.xx

2. Towing from Firestone to Sams: $45

3. Rental Car (3 days 21 hours): $345.xx

4. Actual work on car: $750

5. Leaving work 1 1/2 hrs early (Monday): $10.xx

Total: $1,306

Having my car back? Priceless!

-----

I finally connected with one of the people who wanted my converter box and sold it for $10. There were at least a dozen people wanting it - the lady who actually bought it was one of the last ones who responded. I'd given the first three people several days to finalize a meeting time, so basically told her that if she wants it, and called me to set up a meeting time before 6 pm yesterday, and no one else had jumped in ahead, it was hers.

I think I am going to attempt to sell my entertainment center still via Craigslist, but other than that, I think I have decided that I'm just going to donate everything to the Family Place and be done with it.

The Family Place is a resale shop who sells the items at an 80% discount to women who are having to start over due to domestic violence, etc. They'll send someone to pick up everything - all I have to do is have it ready.

----
I arranged for the same people who moved my mom and stepdad a year ago March to move me on September 20. It is $75 an hour for two men, with a two hour minimum charge. They don't charge extra for stairs, packing equipment, using a dolly, how much space the stuff takes up, setting up or taking down. (I've been reading some articles on how these moving companies scam people out of more money than agreed on. So, I asked a lot of questions.)

I found someone who wants my bed, and they'll pick it up on Sept 13. Then I'll get to sleep on my air mattress again for a week. That will remind me of the time I first moved to McAllen, TX. I lived with the Kindergarten teacher and her husband for about three weeks until I got my first paycheck and had found a place to rent. Then, about two weeks later my furniture arrived. 5 weeks sleeping on an air mattress. One week will be no problem, whatsoever (even with a body that's 9 years older!)

I gave my dad the name of the Firestone Guy from yesterday's fiasco. He called him and got the story from him about what all was going on.

Then he called the mechanic that was recommended to me by the car rental guy. He talked to him a good while and felt he knew what he was talking about. This guy says he can get the EMC from a junkyard for $150, and then labor would be around $100-150 more. So ... roughly $300 versus $1k+. Hmm...

My dad asked him what quality the ones from the junkyard would be. The guy said that pretty much they either work, or don't work.

So, tomorrow I'm going to call this guy and find out how late his garage is open. (His shop focuses soley on Hondas and Toyotas.) Then I'll call the tow guy the car rental guy suggested, and meet him at the Firestone. Pay my bill there (battery and diagnostics) and head over to the mechanics place.

Then hopefully it won't take him too long to get a brain from the junkyard, replace my car's, and then see if the alternator needs work. (as well as if anything else needs work.)

If this guy turns out to truly be good at what he does, then I might just have a good place to take my car to in the future - even though it is a bit of a drive.

---
I got some more responses from Craigslist. One lady was interested in my video rocking chair -- but then her son decided he wanted a black one, not a blue one. :roll eyes:

I had several more people express interest in the VHS/DVD player. Have yet to make an actual meeting time though.

Had a second response on my Tivo. No meeting time set up yet.

Had three responses within 15 minutes of posting my digital convertor box. I guess I priced it just right? $10 No meeting set up yet.

ETA - Had two more people interested in the time I was writing this! Definitely underpriced it! Oh well..

I hadn't gotten any responses to my listing of VHS tapes and DVD's. So I went ahead and took them all to Half Price Bookstore today, along with a couple sacks of books. Made off with $23.50

Sorted through papers/assorted stuff today for a couple hours. Found owner's manuals for converter box and vcr/dvd player. Also found the driver disk and owner's manual for my scanner/printer.

Threw away a bunch of junk mail type stuff - still have several bags that I need to sort through more carefully and decide what needs to be shredded, kept or just thrown away.

I still need to list my dining room table/chairs, lazy boy recliner, king bed and entertainment center. Those are the things that will have to be picked up from my apartment -- and except for the Lazy boy, will need two men to get them out and down my stairs.

If I don't get any takers on Craigslist, I think I'll check with Goodwill and Salvation Army and see if they'd come pick them up.

---
What I got done today is really what I need to be getting done every day this week. Tomorrow I'll be able to get my boxes, and then hopefully be able to start packing.

I think I also need to arrange for that domestic abuse shelter place to come pick up my clothing/etc. in two or three weeks. Hmm.. I could also check with them if they could use any of my furniture.

Today Murphy decided it was time to pay me a visit. It wasn't all bad, there were some small miracles and blessings, but Murphy sure let his presence be known.

It really all started yesterday afternoon. I left to go over to my mom's house around 5:30 p.m. Traffic was pretty bad, and I ended up getting to her place close to 7 with minimal gas. It was enough gas to get me to a station in the morning, so I wasn't worried.

I watered the trees, ate supper and did laundry. I thought about heading back home before the morning, but by that time it was 9:30. So, I decided to stay the night.

That was blessing #1.

I got up about 8am this morning, ate breakfast and put on my grungy clothes (clothes I wear when doing laundry.) My plan was to drive straight from my mom's house to my place, take a shower and get dressed, then head to church.

I decided to eat a slightly larger breakfast than usual today.

Blessing #2.

About 9am I loaded my car up, turned on the house alarm, and got in my car.

Murphy #1 - The car wouldn't start. The engine wouldn't even turn over.

Hoping that the problem was just that there wasn't enough gas to get the engine to go, I called AT&T's Roadside Service.
About 9:30 the auto rescue guy shows up with a couple gallons of gas.

After he puts it in, I asked him to stay another minute so I could be sure my car would start.

Blessing #3.

The car didn't start. So, I realized then that it had to be that my battery was dead. I asked AR guy if he could jumpstart my car. He told me it would be a separate invoice, and I would need to call Roadside again so they could give him the invoice number. Which I did. He then jumped my car, and told me not to turn it off for at least 20 minutes.

My roadside assistance plan gives me 4 free service calls a year. I had not used ANY of the calls this year. (My new year begins Sept 23.)

Blessing #4.

So I started driving down the road. I passed the first gas station because I'd only been driving for a few minutes. I kept going for about 8 more minutes. My fuel light started flashing. I knew that there was only one more gas station in the next 10 miles. So, I pulled into the 2nd gas station. And turned my car off.

I tried to start it. It was dead.

Murphy #2.

So I went into the gas station while my car was filing up to see if anyone had jumper cables and would jump my car. No one had jumper cables, but they did have them on sale.

Murphy #3, and Blessing #5.

So, I bought the jumper cables. One of the clerks knew how to jump a car.

Blessing #6.

Unfortunately, the first start didn't take. So he had to jump start it a third time.

Murphy #4.

Finally I'm on my way. At first I had my air conditioning on, but then about 10 miles down the road I decide to turn it off to conserve battery power.

Two seconds after turning my ac off, lights on my dashboard start going crazy, and a terrible rackety noise fills the car. I pull off quickly onto a large shoulder and come to a stop. I don't turn my car off, but it dies. Completely.

Murphy #5. Blessing #7 (wide shoulder.)

I call roadside for the third time. I am told that it'll be about an hour before a tow truck can come get me. It is roughly 95+ degrees. My windows won't roll down because the electricity wasn't working.

Murphy #6.

The tow truck arrives in about 50 minutes.

Blessing #8.

I have a full bottle of water in my car and my cell phone fully charged.

Blessing #9.

There isn't a Honda dealership within the free 9 mile towing distance, but there is a Firestone. So, that's where I have him tow me. His truck is very nice and cool.

Blessing #10.

Firestone Guy(FG) tells me my battery is shot and they can't figure out what's wrong without battery power. He tells me the battery will cost $99 + tax and labor. I tell him that my battery has a 5 year warranty. He comes out 5 minutes later and tells me it is now only $69.

Blessing #11.

Even with the new battery, they can't get it to turn over. So they have to run a diagnostic test. $79.95

Murphy #7

The diagnostic test can't run because two circuits keep shorting out. Finally, they unplug the EMC??(brain/computer of car) and they can get it to work without the two cirucits shorting.

FG comes out and tells me that the EMC is basically fried. A remanufactured one with labor and taxes will cost $1,049.

(FG said he thinks that the EMC fried due to the multiple jump starts.)

Murphy #8.

I call my dad and he tells me how much he thinks Firestone stinks. That I should not authorize the work, and take time to figure out the best plan of action. So, I tell that to FG (except about what my dad thinks of Firestone :grin. He understands and gives me his business card so my dad can call him to get better specifics.

Blessing #12. (My dad is great!)

FG calls local car rental place (Enterprise). They are closed. (about 3:45 p.m. at this point.)

Murphy #9.

I call my friend T and get her voicemail. Then I call another friend B, and get his answering machine. I was going to see if they could pick me up and take me home, then I could take my time finding a rental car.

Murphy #10

I called the airport Enterprise (about 10 minutes away.) They said that the airport one did not pick people up from outside the airport.

Murphy #11.

A lady was sitting near me and overheard much of my dilemma. She spoke up and told me that her son was there getting his car inspected, and that if it passed inspection, she'd be willing to take me to the airport's car rental.

Blessing #13.

The kind lady took me and my laundry over to the airport and dropped me off. I managed to figure out how to get to the level where the car rental places were located.

Budget was the first one I saw. I decided to stop there. At this point, I was very sweaty, exhausted, frustrated, and plumb worn out. (Wearing ratty shorts, a shirt that clashed with the shorts, legs that needed shaving BAD, and hair that needed washing. At least I had fresh breath, right?)

I told him my story. He first quoted me a price of $400 for a one week rental. I asked him with beseeching eyes if there was *anything* cheaper. He found a discount which made the price $375. We talked for a good bit. He was really sweet.

When he found out I had a Honda Civic, and that my car was at Firestone where they were quoting $1k, he was like, "Oh No! Don't do that!" Then he told me that HE has a Honda Civic (95) and that he'd had to have it's EMC replaced. The guy that did it, did it for about $300! He gave me the guys name and number, as well as the name of a guy who would tow it for less.

Blessings #14 (discount), #15 (Name and Numbers).

I drag all my stuff out to the garage and find my car. It's one of those behemoth ugly looking SUV type cars. Uh uh. No way, no how.

Murphy #12

So, I drag all my stuff back to the rental counter and after waiting for him to finish with a lady, I tell him I can't drive that car. (due to its size.)

He tells me another car that is more the size of my Honda. He tells me that the lady at the booth will take care of switching out the info.

I take off dragging my stuff. Shortly I realize that I should have asked him what he meant by "lady at the booth." Because the only booth I saw was unmanned.

So, I drag my stuff back to the counter. In front of me is this family that was taking *forever.* Finally I get up there, and he tells me he meant the lady at the EXIT booth. Okay, cool. So he goes ahead and calls her to let her know I'm coming and what was happening.

My new car is at the *VERY END* of a lane of cars. Finally I make it into it. I drive to the exit booth and the lady there switches out the info.

(It's a little red Mazda. Not sure of the model. Kind of cute.)

I somehow manage to find my way out of the airport and head on my way home. I'm just pulling in to my apartment complex when I realize three things:

1. My apartment key and mailbox key are on my key ring that is with my car at Firestone.

2. I don't have a parking tag for the rental car, so will have to park it in the visitors parking area until I can get a temporary tag. (Or, it WILL get towed.)

and 3. My toll tag is in my Honda, and my toll tag is associated with that license plate. (This though I think I can fix pretty easily by calling the toll tag place tomorrow and having them switch the license plate temporarily to my rental car.)

Murphy #13, 14, 15.

As soon as I pulled to a stop, I called my apartment office and left a message on the emergency line (for lockouts.) Not too long after wards, a maintenance guy came and let me in my apartment. He also went and made a copy of it so I'd have one.

Blessing 16 and 17.

I got all my stuff out of the car and into my apartment. Then went back out to my car and moved it into an available visitor's spot. The very fact that there was an available spot on a Saturday evening (around 6:30 p.m.) -- Blessing 18.

I got into my apartment and headed towards my bedroom (after stopping in the kitchen.) My computer was dark. I couldn't get it to turn on.

Murphy #16.

The idea came to me that maybe unplugging the power source in the back and then replugging it might work. I tried it. It worked!

Blessing #19

So, now I am here at home finally, sitting at my working computer, and eating some much belated food in a very cool apartment (temp wise at least.)

Blessing #20

Throughout this day I spent a lot of time on the phone with both my mom and my dad. My dad is going to make some calls to find out the best way to deal with this.

He also has told me that he is going to help me out financially with this whole thing. I told him I appreciated it very much, but really didn't feel comfortable to keep on taking money from him. He told me to accept it as a gift from his heart. What could I say?

I'm glad I wrote this out like this, because as exhausting and frustrating as this day was, I can see just how richly blessed I was throughout the whole ordeal.

God is good. And Blessings had a clear victory!

Last night I got a phone call from my brother. He married J Oct, 2006. For a little over a year now, they had been having some major problems. About 3 months ago, they officially separated. Yesterday they went to the courthouse and paid the fee, and are now officially divorced. (No lawyers involved thankfully.)

My brother is really torn up about it. We talked for about an hour, and he was pretty choked up the whole time. I wish I could have been there to give him a hug. He told me that I've been a rock for him this past year, just because I've let him talk and not judged.

He is such a good kid. My heart hurts so much for him. So many of his adult dreams are now tarnished - marriage, owning a house ...

He'd been talking about maybe training to be a ski patrol person, but now that it is officially over, he might just head out to start nursing school. I really hope he can stop in Texas on his way there.

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If you haven't heard yet, the Kroger stores in the Southwest are having Double Coupon Day on August 15. They usually only double up to 39 cents, but on the 15th, they're doubling up to $1. Only the first coupon for any multiple items will be doubled.

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I listed my VHS/DVD player on craigslist. I've now had two people respond as being interested - but both want me to prove that it works. I understand why, but ... the only way I can think of is to have them come to my apartment. I really would rather not do that.

Does anyone have any ideas?

ASK how much the place charges!

In the local Kroger sales paper this week they had a coupon for a $25 gift card with the transfer of a prescription. I also had the same deal for CVS. The Kroger one expired on the 11th, and the CVS one on the 28th.

I decided that I'd go with the Kroger one because $25 at Kroger would get me more useful groceries than at CVS.

The last time I had my scrip filled it cost me $31 at Walgreens. I *assumed* it would be a similar price at Kroger, so I dropped off my bottle to transfer the prescription without asking how much it would be.

Well, today after church I stopped by to pick it up. It was $43!!!!! My jaw was hanging open. There wasn't anything I could do at that point since they'd already filled it .. so I paid for it.

Something interesting that they're doing now. Instead of giving you a gift card with the money loaded on it, they load the credit onto your Kroger savings card.
That is a very sensible cost saving and environmental measure. Too bad that I will probably only visit Kroger one more time to use my credit, thanks to the WAY overpriced meds.

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I have a potentially sticky situation. My dad has been very generous to me, especially since I was laid off in February. Every so often I'll find a letter from him with a check in it. I have never asked for it, and have even told him that as much as I appreciate it, I'm really okay without it.

Well, as I've mentioned before, I will be having a hotel stay near the end of August for school. On Friday I received a letter from my dad with a $300 check in it. That more than covers the hotel expense plus a good bit more.

I called to tell him thank you and for our usual weekly chat. He told me that 200 of it was from my grandma.

Later, he put me on with my grandma. I expressed to her my appreciation and we chit chatted a bit. Then she told me that she'd had some big ideas lately for me. I asked her what those were.

She told me that she thought I should trade my car in under the Cash for Clunkers program. I tried to tell her that I doubted my car would qualify for it, nor that I'd be able to afford a car which would get better gas mileage.

(I have a 97 Honda Civic which gets between 28 and 32 mpg.)

She insisted that even though my experience told me that I get at least 28 or 29 mpg, that I should check out the program. So .. I told her that I would check it out. Then she told me that even if it doesn't qualify, that she really thinks I should start thinking about replacing my car.

I tried to be as polite as possible and told her I appreciated her thinking about me. (She also mentioned that she'd help me out in getting another car.)

Help! My car runs just fine! The last major repair was rebuilding the starter (2 years or so ago). It probably needs new tires and brakes soon, but other than that, it's in great shape. It's paid for, and I know everything that's happened to it since 97.

I know I need to be prepared that I'll have to let go of this car someday ... but it makes no sense whatsoever to me to let go of it now. And I absolutely refuse to make car payments ever again - nor do I want to be beholden to someone else for "helping" me purchase a different car (unless my current car starts going bonkers on me or it gets totaled and I can't find a car for 3 or 4 thousand to replace it). Money for school is a whole different ballgame - but for a car, when I have a good one already?

So, I've already looked into the cash for clunkers program. As expected, my car doesn't qualify. Other than telling her that I looked into it, what would be a good response? Her heart is in the right place ... but I don't like the feeling I'm getting that she thinks she can make me do what she thinks is best because she's giving me money (which I didn't ask for in the first place.)

Should I not cash this check?

Yesterday after work I stopped by the home I'll be moving into in September to give her my deposit (basicly needed to hold the room till I can move in.) I'd taken measurements of my computer desk/chair and dresser so I could see if they'd fit in the room or not.

After emptying the room out, and moving the bed into a different position, I figured out that they both will fit in, plus possibly my nightstand.

I played tug of war with the chihuahua while talking to CC - that was fun.

After I was done, I went over to my mom and stepdad's. They're going on a vacation and have asked me to stop by several times while they're gone - to check on the house and to water the trees. I took advantage of being there, and got my laundry done.

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When I got back home this morning, I checked to see if my final grade was posted yet or not for my graphic novels class. I got an A! Now I just have to get 12 more A's to finish out my degree.

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For some reason I thought you had a 10 day grace period for vehicle registration renewals. Luckily I got on the ball and double checked *today* because it actually is only 5 days! Whew! I got my registration renewed online - now just have to wait for the sticker.

(I prefer doing it online because you can use a credit card and you don't have to drive all the way to a tax office. It's worth the extra $2 for me.)

Well, it looks like things have worked out for me to move into the room I checked out last week.

Yes, the room itself is small, but really, for the price ... I don't know that I could find a much better situation. And it'll only be until I finish school.

Tomorrow is my last day of my summer class, and I'll be spending a good 5 - 6 hours finishing up a project for it. After that, I have until August 22 before Fall semester classes begin.

So, that means I'll have about three weeks to sell, give away, pack and clean as much as I possibly can. Then about the middle of September, I'll move into my new home.

Advantages:
Free cable and internet

Lots of animal lovin' (2 dogs/2 cats)

Weekly access to washer/dryer

Be able to put money in savings again!

Closer to my mom and stepdad's house

5 minutes from an SDA church/school

Only ONE toll between it and the gym

Area where room is, is pretty much out of the main traffic areas in the house.

Good amount of storage space in garage.

Good sized living room right off room which I'd basically have to myself.

Disadvantages

Small room

Will have to change churches, because will be too far from regular church (same denomination)(our pastor's last day was today - so this may be as good a time to go to a new place as any.)

Will be a lot further away from my good friend T (but don't see her all that much anyway ...)

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These are the items I'm planning on selling/giving away:

small wooden rolling table (about the size of a large dinner tray) -- maybe $10

20+ year old beat up working Lazy-boy recliner - probably a give away, but will try $5 first

beautiful real wood entertainment center - going to start at (new was around $1000) $200, if no bites, will go to $150

rolling desk chair - $10

beanbag - $5 or giveaway

round one-piece solid wood dining table in great shape - $50 (5 chairs will be included for free, if they want them - pretty much falling apart)

King size bed- mattress/frame/sheets/comforter - about 12 years old - $25/$10 or giveaway

So, the big thing I'm wondering about, is what would be the best way to list these things on CL? Pictures of course, but should I list them separately, or in one or two "moving sale" posts?

Do my prices seem reasonable?

After checking my credit card statement online, I realized that I had prepaid for my hotel stay - no cancellations allowed. When I made the reservation, I saw that clause, but somehow it didn't stick in my mind. So ... hotel it is. (for my on campus days)

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Today I went and checked out the home of the single mother with two teens, dogs, and cats. (For a total of $290/mo including utilities.)

The room was small. BA, maybe twice the size of your closet.

There is room in it for a twin bed (in room already) a dresser, and *maybe* my computer desk.

If the room was all there was to it, I probably would have to pass. But, it wasn't.

Included in the rent is an amount of storage space in her garage, which is nearly equal to the size of the bedroom. Plus, there is a large living room which her family rarely uses right next to the bedroom - which I've been told I can use if I need to for my furniture/items.

The two dogs and cats are adorable and so sweet and lovable. If I end up renting there, I'll be sure to post pictures.

There isn't much of a closet for hanging clothes. But, since I'll have easy access to a washer/dryer, I would reduce my clothing amount quite a bit. (I could possibly get one of those portable closet things and put it in the living room if I really needed to...)

The only problem is that she is really needing someone right away. The earliest I could move in would be mid-September. (I put in my notice to vacate yesterday - my complex requires 60-day notice.)

However, she really liked me, (especially liked how her animals took to me), so is going to see if she can find someone to just rent for a month or so.

Seriously, I hope this works out.

It is maybe an extra 5 or 6 minutes driving time to the gym, and if I took the toll road, would only have ONE toll (instead of two.)

So, my budget would look something like this:

~$870 Income

$290 - Rent/Utilities
$50 - Cell Phone
$22 - Renter's Insurance (pd yearly)
$55 - Car Insurance (pd 2x yrly)
$100 - Food
$80 - Gas/Tolls
$87 - TITHE!!!!
$100 - SAVINGS!!!!!!!!!!
$86 -- Miscellaneous (meds, treats, clothing, etc.)

I cannot even begin to tell you how much it would do for my morale to actually be able to put money into savings again.

Granted, most of it will be going straight out again whenever I pay tuition, but it will at least help to slow the drainage a good bit.

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I got an email back from the pastor of the church where the University is - he said he'd check with his members about possibilities. So, if the above doesn't work out, hopefully he'll find something.

I have to be on campus from Aug 22 - 25 for two of my classes. I've already reserved a hotel room, at $63/night + taxes. It was the going rate for everything I checked (one of the cheaper rates actually.)

Well, I don't know how smart this is ... but I decided to see if I could save a good bit of money by posting an ad asking for a couch to sleep on during that same time period. $70 - 100 (Couch &70; Room $100). If I get any responses, what would you all suggest I should ask? Should I ask for a reference? I suppose I could always get there and access the situation - then if it doesn't feel right, head to a hotel...

I also responded to 3 different ads for rooms to rent. One person responded back - $290/month, single mom with two teens. She basicaly wanted to know if I had an income, because I guess previous renters had trouble paying the rent. I told her that I do have an income, but if anything happened to it,that I have my emergency fund + promise of financial backing from a parent. I also offered to pay 3 months up front (with some kind of legal document to protect both of us.) and/or provide her with several references.

This may be a possibility.

Then, I responded to a job listing. I am WAY overqualified for it, but it pays at least $10/hr, so even at 20 hours a week, it would be more than the gym job. It basically is teaching computer classes to little ones - they provide the curriculum, and you work with trained classroom Master teachers. I think this would be a lot of fun, and I could learn a lot (plus maybe make some good contacts for librarian jobs in schools.)

Well ... we'll see what happens!

Ok - got a response to the need a bed listing ... what do ya'll think?

I may have a deal for you. I am about 20 mins from . I am needing a person to look after my house. I am thinking about taking a new job, but the job require for me to travel. so here the deal i have a 17 year old daughter, she does not need to be look after, but i want to make sure my house does not become a party zone. If this sounds like something you would be interested in please let me know. rent is free.

John

So I just finished one week of the training program for the half-marathon.

Thursday - ran/walked 3 miles; Friday- rest day;
Saturday - ran/walked 3.2 miles; Sunday - rest day
Monday - elliptical 30 minutes
Tuesday - ran/walked 3.2 miles
Wednesday - ran/walked 3 miles

My body - my feet, my calves, my lower back, the back of my knees are all sore. This is even with concentrating on NOT heel striking.

Tonights group walk/run was *awful*. I was slowing my whole pace group down. On the way back there was a bench, and I *had* to sit down - just for 30 seconds. It was so HOT out. The temperature was at least 100 degrees at 7:00 p.m. - who knows what the real temp was.

Then the course - so many hills! Ugh!!

It took me 54:14 to do 3 miles. That is more than an 18 minute mile. I was completely wiped out by the time we got to the end.

The training schedule calls to do a 3 mile run tomorrow, and then a 5 mile run on Saturday.

I don't want to be the one holding everybody back. I really don't see how I'll do 5 miles on Saturday - even starting at 7 am.

Before I invest in a Garmin or in other distance running paraphernalia, I need to figure out if I really can do this. If I really want to put my body through this. I do know that if I do keep on with this, that I need to get the Garmin 50 sooner rather than later, because I hated not knowing the distance we'd gone, and had to really hold back from asking the pace leader too many times.

*Oh, and I was SO annoyed at the start -- one of the leaders was trying to give some last minute instructions, and people would NOT stop talking! I *so* wanted to tell them to shut up already! But I didn't - just tried to move around to a place people weren't talking. Why are people so rude??

This weekend I went to my mom and stepdad's place. Saturday night we drove to another town to go to a church concert that one of my moms friends was singing in.

When we got back to their place, it was nearly 10:30 p.m. and it was 95 degrees out. But I needed to do my 4 mile run - all three of us went out together, but I ended up just walk/running the two loops with my mom and stepdad, which put me at a bit over 3 miles.

This morning mom and I got started early (for a Sunday) and made Special K Roast; Cottage Cheese Patties; Banana Quinoa Oatmeal Pancakes; and Crustless Quiche. All of these items are now sitting in my freezer being flash frozen. I put the Special K Roast in muffin pans so it'd be easier to freeze individual portions.

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When I got back home and had put away my laundry and the food, I went to check my mail. I usually only check it maybe 2 or 3 times a week.

I had a very nice surprise today! A very thoughtful and sweet person sent me a bit of money, with the stipulation that it was to be used for something I want.

Hmmm... could that person be reading my blog? No, the money was sent the day before I posted about my salivating over the Garmin.

Well, from some of the comments on my Garmin 305 post, I decided that wasn't the way to go, even if I had the money. But, I have been doing some more looking, and I think that maybe the Garmin 50 with the footpod would work -- I've found it in several places for less than $90.

Although I already have a sportswatch/heart rate monitor, the three big things the Garmin 50 has that I really really would like:

1. Track my distance without having to calibrate step stride or mess with GPS

2. Track my pace/speed

3. Able to upload info to Garmin tracking software - see trends on heart rate, distance, pacing, etc.

I really could have used the Garmin 50 last night. I was supposed to do 4 miles, but my mom and dad only had a 1.5 mile route set up. My stepdad tried to explain the route to me, but there were too many turns, and with my err... directional talents ... I decided to just stick with them. If I'd had the G50 I could have struck out on my own till I hit the 2 mile mark, then just turned right around.

Though the 3 + a bit miles pretty thoroughly wore me out. How am I going to do 5 miles this coming weekend!!!!???

So ... anyone have any experience with the Garmin 50?

Some of you may remember when I first started running last year how I was salivating over a Garmin Forerunner GPS enabled watch. I never did get it.

So now that I'm training to run a half-marathon, the bug has come back in full force. I found a Garmin 305 Forerunner for $179 on Amazon. It tells your heartrate, how fast you're going, and your distance. (plus a lot more.)

I *really* *really* wanted this.

But, financially speaking, I *really* *really* am NOT in a place where I should be spending nearly $200 on a watch.

So last week I was cleaning out a drawer as part of my decluttering effort (and moving prep.) Lo and behold, I found a Timex Sportswatch and chest heart rate monitor!

The only problem with the watch was that the battery was dead.

So today after work I stopped by Walmart's jewelery department and had them put a new battery in the watch. I also thought the chest heart rate monitor would need a new battery - but the guy told me it was good to go.

The new battery? It cost $4.33 including tax.

This setup won't tell me how fast I'm going, nor will it tell me how far I've gone, but it will help me by letting me see how hard I'm working (heart rate) and how long it takes me to run a course. (Which would have been nice for my race this past weekend, so I could have had my actual race time.)

Maybe, if I keep up with my running past the half-marathon this December, then it would be worth it to invest in a Garmin, but for right now, my Timex will do the job!

Well folks, I do believe I have seen the Writing On the Wall.

This morning when I got to work, E was there. We were chit chatting about this and that, when he mentioned that paychecks would be available tomorrow. *Then* he mentioned that they had opened a new check writing account at a different bank which only has branches in a town about 20 miles North.

So, what this means is that there will not be the opportunity to take the paycheck directly to their bank and cash it. (Unless I want to drive 20+ miles on my day off hoping that the money will be there.) So, the only way to get the money is to deposit the check.

We know how well that goes. Not.

E assured me there'd be enough money for all our checks. I just kind of gave him a look, and told him that I certainly hoped so, because I did NOT want to have to deal with NSF or Returned Check fees.

So, feeling really upset about this all day. I came to the decision that the first time a check bounces, I will be putting in my notice.

I simply refuse to deal with this anymore. It was annoying enough to have to go back to their bank multiple times to be able to cash my checks, but at least the embarrassment factor was solely in their court. Bouncing checks that I deposit in MY checking account puts the embarrassment factor on me as well.

Next question is how am I going to pay for school and living expenses without this job?

Well... I think I'll probably have to take my grandma up on her offer of financial help. I'm thinking of asking her to pay my tuition as I go, and then while I'm still in school, I'll pay 5% interest on whatever the total amount is each month. Then, once I'm out of school and have a librarian job, we can work out the repayment terms.

I also am working on applying for a number of scholarships I've found - but none of them would work until 2010.

With tuition covered, then all I would need to worry about is living expenses.

If I didn't make another dime, I could live on my savings for 13 months - supposing no emergencies or car repairs.

So, obviously I'll need to reduce my expenses + find odd jobs or maybe a part-time job.

To meet my goal of finishing within 18 months, I need at least 30 - 40 hours a week of study/homework time. The gym job is so perfect for that. Ugh.

I haven't heard from my brother yet about him moving here, so that *might* be a possibility. But I kind of doubt it.

I think it may be getting close enough to September for me to talk to my Pastor about any families he knows of that may be willing to exchange childcare/tutoring for partial rent.

I will know probably by a week from tomorrow whether or not this check has cleared. I really hope it does, so it'll give me another two weeks before saying sayonara. But, I think the smart thing to do is to start planning as though it WILL bounce.

I sure will miss working out with the lady who works out in the mornings -- and easy access to treadmills.

Le Sigh.

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Well, when my prescription is ready to be refilled, I have a coupon for CVS to get a $25 gift card. I need to see if I can find my Walgreen's one and check its expiration date. If it's in August, then I'll have my next two refills basically paid for.

Today I spent about 90 minutes or so searching the internet for the various required books for my upcoming courses.

The first course, coming up here in just a few weeks, requires a great number of books. Most of them are novels, but two of them are actual textbooks. Guess what? I found ALL of them at my library!! Yes!!!

Of the three classes I'll start in August, one of them has no required texts (Yay!), one of them I have not found any info on yet (will be calling Monday!), and the third requires two texts. I found one of them at my library, and the other one I found a very used copy of at AbeBooks.

Hopefully, I will have as much luck in finding the required text(s) for the one remaining class.

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I made a suggestion to my brother today. I suggested that maybe we could convert my livingroom into a bedroom for him, and clear out closet space for his stuff, and we could split my apartment.

Long story - he and sil are getting divorced - have already short saled their house. He's decided to go back to school and become a nurse.

If he can find a nursing program he can get into here in Dallas, he said he'd be willing to talk further about the idea.

With me working 4 days a week at the gym and going to school full time and him going to school full time and working, we probably wouldn't see each other much at all. I very very rarely use my living room for anything, so it wouldn't be much of a sacrifice.

This would cut 3 -4 hundred dollars a month off my expenses - and I would know I'd have someone I get along with pretty well.

Some of you may remember me talking about joining a local running club, oh 6 - 8 months ago or so. I got out of running regularly in November, and didn't really get back into it until about 6 or 7 weeks ago.

Well, for some reason today, I decided that it was time for me to do something where I'd get some social interaction as well as exercise. So... I joined the Dallas Running Club!

It costs $25 for a one-year membership. The membership includes 8 free races a year plus discounts on a bunch of other races, a free runners magazine, and discounts to athletic stores.

After signing up, I noticed that they have a 23 week training program called "Couch to Half-Marathon." Hmmm... interesting. The basic requirement is that you can run/walk 3 miles. Well, I can do that, if you give me 45 minutes or so ...

So .... for $30 ... I signed up!!!! The program is to get you ready for a half-marathon in November.

They even had a pace group for the 14 - 16 minute milers! (Which is where I signed up.)

Once I get my membership packet, I'm going to go get new running shoes. (15% discount.) Mine are getting to the point of needing replacement soon.

So, July 8 I will be registering for my first grad school class in the morning, and attending the first meeting of the Couch to Half program in the evening. Then, on July 13 I will have my first training run in the early morning, and start my first grad class (officially).

I'm hoping that this will give me some kind of a social outlet, as well as help me to stick to an exercise program.

Oh yeah, the first free race coming up is a 5k on July 4 - which I have signed up for. My first race since October 2008!

Woo Hoo! My first class starts in less than 4 weeks!

It's a class about youth graphic novels and comics. It looks like it is going to be quite a doozy - one assignment is to read a graphic novel such as Spiderman 3 and then watch the movie.

But really, it does look like a lot of reading. The graphic novels won't be a problem for me, but the comic books will sure be a different form of reading than I'm used to!

I'm going to have to buy MS Office. To get the discount, I'll have to go on campus and get a student id made. I'm not sure when I'll have a chance to do that.

My Fall semester classes will start Aug 22. Two of them are what they call Web Institutes where you go on campus for a few days and attend class from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. then have some social events. Then for the remainder of the semester, you do your coursework online.

I'll also be taking a 3rd class, which is the first one in the School Librarian certification lineup.

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I am going to need to come up with a way to access the internet at the gym, sooner rather than later.

I checked the cost of the At&T usb plan, and it costs $60/month for 5 gb. (It works wherever there is cell phone service.)

I'm not sure if 5gb would be enough for a month, especially if I eliminate my home internet (to save $20/mo.)

I'm hoping to be able to find a less expensive alternative.

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Today my mom and I did some major spring cleaning. She left with more than she came with. I gave her the Macy's gift card to thank her for her help, along with a couple other things. We only managed to finish the kitchen and the bathroom. (Of course, we took a few "breaks".)

She's going to come again next week to help me with my bedroom (i.e. clothes!! and boxes of stuff she unloaded on me when she married stepdad that I still haven't unpacked.)

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I played around with TurboTax last night attempting to figure out what 2009 taxes are going to be like. Umm... I think I might have to figure out how to do estimated taxes/quarterly payments.

My tax bill - even with Lifetime Learning Credit and making about $900/mo from April - Dec, is going to be close to $900!!!! 2010 will be even worse, and that will be with making less than $12k the whole year + the LLCredit - that tax bill will be closer to $1600!!

I guess EIC doesn't work for self-employed/independent contractor income.

The sooner I can cut my housing costs the better!

When I first decided to go ahead and go full time working at the gym, I *thought* I had it figured out that I would be able to make enough on 36 hours of min wage per week to cover expenses, with the exception of Cobra. However, I must have miscalculated something somewhere, because even without Cobra, I am still coming out at least $80 behind.

I chose to not pay for Cobra, because in September the discounted rate would end, and I'd be out $1500 and still be without insurance (when it went to the 100% rate of $425/month.) So, really, what would be the point?

So I have been watching the gym losing more members than they are gaining. I've seen the last two income reports. It doesn't look good. I'm seriously wondering how much longer E's mom will be willing to throw away $2-3K+/month on gym payroll when it's mostly coming from her inheritance - even if they do consider the gyms to be a "mission."

Yesterday when I got to the gym, E was interviewing a new person. He's also hired on someone just for the summer. Personally, if I was E, I'd be scared to death to hire anyone new. How does he know that these new people would be willing to put up with bouncing paychecks, or having to hold on to a check for two - four weeks before it finally cashes? Stuff like that is liable to tick someone off in a not good way.

So, even before going to the bank three times this week, after being assured the money was there to cash my check, and still coming out with no money, I started to seriously consider what other options may be available.

The pros of this job: Lots of free time for studying once I start classes, one weekday off each week - so only work 4 days a week, ability to exercise a lot.

The cons of this job - overwhelming stifling boredom, minimum wage, never knowing if check is going to cash or not, inability to just deposit check due to knowing it may bounce, Boredom, gym closes for any and every holiday which equals loss of any pay for those days

Like I've said before, I like E. He is a good person, and he really tries to make everybody happy. This fact has made it somewhat easier to deal with the paycheck problem. Today though, after stopping by the bank once again, hoping to come out with money in my hands, only to come out empty handed, I was very very aggravated.

So, I'm really not sure what to do. Should I just stay until my lease is up on my apartment and hope the business is still around until then? That way very little will be going out of savings each month. Then I can quit there, and move into a room wherever I find the least expensive option and live off of savings + whatever odd jobs/temp jobs I can come up with?

Or should I try to find something else entirely?But if I somehow manage to find something else, then what would happen with school????

Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. This job is just such a perfect thing for when I start school - it would allow me to go full-steam ahead because I could fill my working hours with studying. But is the aggravation over the money worth it?

I wonder if I switched my day off from Wednesday to Friday, and then signed up with temp agencies. Mondays and Friday's seemed to be the two most assigned days. That way I'd at least have one check I could count on, and could have it direct deposited. Of course,that's assuming that there are any temp day jobs even available right now - unemployment hitting 9.4% I heard today.

Before today, I had been trying to think of what I could do to just bring in an extra $100/month - to fill the gap between the gym income and my outgo. I have some things I could sell via Ebay or Craigslist, but not more than maybe a few hundred dollars worth (if that.)

This is my budget for June:

Rent: 665 (lease ends in Sept.)
Cell: 48
Internet: 20
Gas: 40+
Tolls: 25
Food: 60
Roth: 50 (Can't stop because its under 3k)
Meds: 25

Total: 933
Income: 854

I can't cancel my cell phone because its under contract and its my only phone.

I do manage to make *some* money via the internet (blogs, youdata, surveys, etc) plus its my main means of communication with other people.

Gas and Food ... I'm trying to keep them in those ranges, but with the way gas is going up, I don't know if it is a reasonable amount. Food .. as long as I leave my cards at home except for planned grocery days, I can do that amount.

My July budget looks even grimmer. My first paycheck (once cashed) is minus a normal 12 hours pay due to Memorial Day. Then I have to get my registration renewed for my car. Oh yeah, starting this coming Monday, I will have one hour less a week due to ending my Mondays at the South gym which closes earlier than the #2 gym.

My mom asked me if I was having money troubles. Technically, the answer is no, because I have plenty of savings to fall back on. But realistically, I am living way above my means - with really nowhere to cut.

Last month when I transferred my prescription to Tom Thumb to get the $30 gift card, I received a $25 check from Walgreens which would be good if I transferred a prescription to them. So this past weekend I transferred the same prescription back to them and had the check validated.

I debated about using it today or tomorrow, and came **very close to waiting. But, I didn't.

What did I find in my email box when I got home? An email from Walgreen's saying that on Wednesday or Thursday if you spend $25, you get $5 off (using the coupon included in the email.) Argh!!!

I couldn't have used it anyway, since my printer still isn't working. It's just the thought though - if I'd waited one more day and my printer was working, I could have saved another $5, so I'd have gotten $30 worth of merchandise for free.

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Ok, another video from one of my favorite pick me up blogs. And funnily enough, it relates to one of my favorite children's stories, Make Way For Ducklings by Robert McClouskey.

Enjoy!

The Banker and the Ducklings

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Thanks to my book blog, I have received a free children's book! It arrived in my mailbox this weekend, and I read it while I was waiting to go in to my friend's daughters ballet recital. Adorable!

(My friend's daughter is graduating from Kindergarten on Wednesday night. I remember feeding her with a bottle when she was just a few days old! Time flies!)

I'll be reviewing it on my Children's book blog - it should be posted in the next hour or so.

Last night I talked to my dad for awhile. He told me I really should check my mail. Unfortunately, it was raining cats and dogs with a good bit of lightning thrown in for good measure. So, I didn't get to the mailbox till this morning.

In the mail was a letter from my dad, and an envelope from my grandma. In the letter from my dad was a check for $100 -- for FUN not Savings -- was clearly specified on it. Heh, he knows me so well. It was totally unexpected and so sweet of him.

In the envelope from my grandma was a dvd of Les Meserables (the one with Liam Neeson.) Nice! She and I saw the traveling broadway production of it in San Antonio in 1996??

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I spent a good portion of my evening yesterday trying to figure out how to get comment luv off my other blog. Comment luv is this add on that is supposed to make it so that when a person leaves a comment along with the url to their own blog, then a link to their latest post shows up. Well, not only have I not been able to get it to function like that, I also can't figure out what feed the comments are on --- this is a problem because my recent comments widget and my top posts/most popular posts widget can't work either!

Never did figure out how to get it off, but did end up switching to a totally new template/design. I also made my own header for it. Not completely sure I like it just yet. I may need to do a bit more tweaking of the header.

I posted about my

Tom Thumb shopping trip on Living Frugal and Simple.

And on Children's Books for Storytime I posted a review of Mandie and the Secret Tunnel. A great children's mystery book (Christian fiction.)

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I feel bad for E, the gym manager. Three weeks ago his grandfather died. Then on Friday his grandmother died. He asked me to call all the gym workers and let them know that the paychecks wouldn't be ready until Wednesday. One person I called and told this to was so callous - saying 'it's always something.'

While that may be true, the poor guy has lost both of his grandparents in less than a months time!

This same person told me that he refuses to do anything other than sit and watch the gym, do towels, etc. If E wanted him to make phone calls to people regarding invoices due, or call other gym workers on various issues, or update the waiver file, he'd have to pay him extra.

Me on the other hand, sees how much E has to do and how overloaded he is. I see how much free time I have while at the gym, and for two reasons: 1. To help E out; and 2. Hope to help E be more ...errr.. organized -- have volunteered to do anything I can to help lighten his load. (which he has taken me up on -- and I still have plenty of time on my hands!)

I hope you all don't get tired of me posting links to animal videos. Just some of the ones on this particular blog are SO good.
And I'd like to think that this video in particular has applications to our financial life - especially those of you who are still struggling to pay off your debts.

Just like the baby squirrel in this video, we all have obstacles to achieving our financial goals. We may have people in our lives that we look up to and attempt to copy what they do to succeed. But even doing that isn't always enough. Sometimes, we may need even more help than just that one person we look up to. Maybe the obstacle is just too big for the financial place we are in right now, and our legs just aren't strong enough to get over it.

Don't give up. Any obstacle can be overcome eventually with persistance and maybe a little help from a friend.

*warning - may want a tissue handy

Baby Squirrel and Wall

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I had a lovely lunch at IHOP today.

They were pretty slow. I felt kind of bad for my waitress because her manager was standing/sitting in my area the whole time. It did kind of work out for me though, because there was no problem getting exactly what I wanted: one garden stuffed crepe and one nutella crepe.

Some places refuse to do partial orders like that, and others do it with no problem. I'm glad today's place gave me no problem with it.